1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to recording keystroke information in a keyboard operated musical instrument, and more particularly to a mountain rail assembly for supporting keystroke recording sensors beneath the keys in an electronic player piano.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recording sensors are commonly used in electronic player piano systems to capture keystroke information. Typically, sensor assemblies are mounted below the keyboard to sense the movement and position of the keys for recording the original piano performance. In conventional player piano systems, the sensor assemblies are mounted on a common rack assembly which is sized to match the size of the keyboard. Since the rack assembly must be sized to match the size of the keyboard, it is necessary to customize the rack assembly for different types of player pianos.
Further, such rack assemblies do not provide for adjustability of the position of the sensors in relation to the keys. In the piano industry, however, there are at least four distinct piano key spacing arrangements. It will be appreciated that, in a player piano, there is a large number of individual keys to be sensed in a player piano. Thus there is a need for an apparatus which will allow for sensing key movement without interfering with the key movement and, further, a need for each sensor to be accurately positioned in relation to the corresponding key. There is a further need for sensor assemblies which can be easily retrofitted to existing pianos with varying keyboard sizes and key spacing configurations. The present invention satisfies those needs, as well as others, and overcomes the deficiencies found in conventional sensor assembly mounting techniques.